This is mostly a thought exercise to me.
Best two I've come up with is
Monk/druid dedication utilizing animal forms to gain higher damage dies and+2 status bonus to hit until level ten where we switch to wild morph and utilize bleed and poison persistent damage on hit. .
Other idea. Monk/beast Master dedication utilizing your excellent action economy and support benefit of say.. Maybe they bear.
Obviously multiple archetypes are allowed in this thought process. You don't have to go for this build makes narrative sense so long as it works but raw (free archetype variant factored into that).
The available alpha-strike abilities out there don't mesh well with the quite strong Flurry, so I'd lean toward damage per hit bonuses. Rogue MCD seems to have the most such damage additions. Sneak Attack of course, but less obviously poison (if the GM lets you apply to your unarmed strikes). This would require a Finesse attack, but since they're 1d8 Agile those are pretty strong.
I also really like Mobility on a Monk. Half speed? Not an issue. :-)
I don't think those Druid Wild Shape damage dice are superior that often, not when factoring in Handwraps (which don't stack w/ them). Reach though would be quite useful with Stand Still. And Electric Arc + Flurry is a good round, if perhaps using Thousand Faces for Reach (and a modest damage bump) later on. And Druid would open up (low level) Heal + Flurry too. At 11th on though, yeah, that Wild Morph adding on Persistent Damage is quite nice, especially since a Monk can deliver it to backrow enemies then return.
Not a fan of the bear, partly because it's slower and more vulnerable than the Monk. It'd be like a leash holding the Monk back, though since parties can also hold the Monk back, the bear might be no worse. :-) If one wants to use a spare action for extras then Bard might be better. The Cha cost hurts, but if going w/ Dragon Stance it helps w/ Dragon Roar for some bonus damage, plus you can get in a good Demoralize now and then which amounts to a notable increase in damage (about +1/6x vs. a standard enemy).
Well, practicality aside, you could do something like
Dragon sorc dedication
Claws
Casting
Rogue dedication
Multitalented psychic dedication
Sneak attack
Level 1 psychic feat
Psi strikes feat
Strike for 2d4(claws physical)+2d6(claws elemental)+1d6(rune)+1d6(rune)+1d6(sneak attack)+1d6(psi strikes)+str+weapon specialization = 26+str+WS
Turn 1 you activate claws, trigger psi strikes, stride and flurry
Turn 2 you cast true strike from a staff, activate psi strikes, stride and flurry
Turn 3 you cast true strike from a slot, stride and flurry
Awful build, wildly impracticable, but it technically exists I guess.
If you can also take archetype feats with your main class feats, you clear sorc at level 4, clear psychic at 8 and get rogue sneak attack at 10:
2 sorc dedication
4 claws, casting
6 psychic dedication, psychic level 1 feat
8 psi strikes feat, rogue dedication
10 sneak attack
Is the pre-errata Jalmeri Heavenseeker allowed?
Is the pre-errata Jalmeri Heavenseeker allowed?
Probably no if it has been or if known that it's going to be changed.
Strength Monk with Dragon Barb dedication and the 6th level feat that gets more rage damage can do a fair amount per hit.
Between you and Castillo I thought about combining barbarian and rogue dedications.
Start with barbarian. Get +4 to your strikes when raging.
Get ki strike
Dragon stance
Rogue dedication
Sneak attack
Opportune back stab
You could run up to someone and do 4d10+12+4+1d6+3d6 for one attack and you have the second attack right behind it.
Requires an action to get into stance (stance savant), action to rage. Need spend an action for ki strike.
But it could work . Seems to have better up front damage than the druid build though that one might give it a run for it's money over time.
Not sure dragon stance would qualify for sneak attacker.
Good point. I often forget that it's sneak attack that has that limitation. Not the rogue class itself
Not sure dragon stance would qualify for sneak attacker.
Correct, it doesn't.
It'd need to be one of the finesse Stances (or ranged I suppose), but those can be used fine with Str for the damage.---
Also the action for Ki Strike contains a Flurry, so the only cost is the Focus Point (and feat of course). Personally I'd save those points for Ki Blast or Wholeness of Body unless targeting a Weakness that is.
For high levels, Alchemist Dedication can help a lot. 1d12 Deadly d10 + 1d10 Deadly d10 Agile makes good damage. But that's mostly level 16+.
Over the course of a career, I'd certainly start with Wild Shape before level 11 and Bestial Mutagen at 16+. There's still 6 levels in between where I don't know how to build.
For high levels, Alchemist Dedication can help a lot. 1d12 Deadly d10 + 1d10 Deadly d10 Agile makes good damage. But that's mostly level 16+.
Over the course of a career, I'd certainly start with Wild Shape before level 11 and Bestial Mutagen at 16+. There's still 6 levels in between where I don't know how to build.
Rogue maybe for sneak attack and opportune back stab
Glimpse Weakness at level 9 would be +6 damage, but only for an ally who hit it, not you.
This seems to be a bit of a theoretical optimization problem? If you're asking for TO, you really ought to specify the situation.
Like... "1/day nova over a single turn from a standing start" is going to look very different from "consistent per-turn damage available every round of combat after the first for every encounter in the day, occasionally requiring you to spend an action on movement"
The importance (or lack thereof) of a ranged option is also potentially pertinent.
Is the pre-errata Jalmeri Heavenseeker allowed?Probably no if it has been or if known that it's going to be changed.
Well, they've said "this is too much damage" and not allowed it for PFS for that reason. They generally do not give errata to APs, and they've given us no idea about what the "reasonable amount of damage" is, but if they reprint it in a hardcover they will probably change it to be more reasonable. Who knows if they will though (LO: Impossible Lands is a possible place to reprint it).
Fun one with free archetype.
Psychic, rogue, thaumaturge dedications.
2 thaumaturge
4 rogue
6 sneak attacker
8 psychic
10 basic psychic feat
12 psy strikes
Extra 1d6 force, 1d6 precision,+2 weakness
How can you get thaumaturge by 2 and rogue by 4?
Lvl 2 random class feat + thaumaturge from archetype
Lvl 4 2x thaumaturge feats ( either using class and archetype feats)
Lvl 6 rogue dedication + rogue feat
Lvl 8 rogue feat + psychic
Free archetype doesn't necessarily have to wait for the standard 2 feat tax. That's up to DM discretion.
Even with that limitation you can get all that by endgame and each one has a couple nice feats.
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How can you get thaumaturge by 2 and rogue by 4?
Lvl 2 random class feat + thaumaturge from archetype
Lvl 4 2x thaumaturge feats ( either using class and archetype feats)
Lvl 6 rogue dedication + rogue feat
Lvl 8 rogue feat + psychic
Free archetype doesn't necessarily have to wait for the standard 2 feat tax. That's up to DM discretion.
I couldn't find it.
Mind to link that specific part?Seems it just gives you an archetype feat for free, allowing you to get either class feats while investing into one archetype.
What can be limited is the archetypes pool you can choose from ( SoT is a clear example of this ).
From the Free Archetypes section:
If the group all has the same archetype or draws from a limited list, you might want to ignore the free archetype’s normal restriction of selecting a certain number of feats before taking a new archetype. That way a character can still pursue another archetype that also fits their character.
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Bard dedication on a Stumbling Stance user.
You will need CHA anyway, so you aren't going out of your way. It is a dex stance, so you can keep decent defense too. And this takes advantage of your action economy.
Its damage will be fairly consistence. You will have two attacks at full BAB that get inspiration and flat footed from a free feint. The increased chance to crit can add a lot.
It is also a great team player.
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Bard dedication on a Stumbling Stance user.
You will need CHA anyway, so you aren't going out of your way. It is a dex stance, so you can keep decent defense too. And this takes advantage of your action economy.
Its damage will be fairly consistence. You will have two attacks at full BAB that get inspiration and flat footed from a free feint. The increased chance to crit can add a lot.
It is also a great team player.
The happy drunk. Very easy to role play.
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Jalmeri Heavenseeker is being reprinted in Impossible Lands with a fixed heaven's thunder and other, unspecified tweaks. Source is Michael Sayre on Reddit (ssalarn) but on phone + walking dog so I can't easily link atm
Bard dedication on a Stumbling Stance user.
You will need CHA anyway, so you aren't going out of your way. It is a dex stance, so you can keep decent defense too. And this takes advantage of your action economy.
Its damage will be fairly consistence. You will have two attacks at full BAB that get inspiration and flat footed from a free feint. The increased chance to crit can add a lot.
It is also a great team player.
While I'm a big fan of stumbling stance, what is the second map-0 attack from? Flurry is two for one but normal map, right?
Jalmeri Heavenseeker is being reprinted in Impossible Lands with a fixed heaven's thunder and other, unspecified tweaks. Source is Michael Sayre on Reddit (ssalarn) but on phone + walking dog so I can't easily link atm
While I'm a big fan of stumbling stance, what is the second map-0 attack from? Flurry is two for one but normal map, right?Bard dedication on a Stumbling Stance user.
You will need CHA anyway, so you aren't going out of your way. It is a dex stance, so you can keep decent defense too. And this takes advantage of your action economy.
Its damage will be fairly consistence. You will have two attacks at full BAB that get inspiration and flat footed from a free feint. The increased chance to crit can add a lot.
It is also a great team player.
Oh you're right. I always confuse the ones that save action economy with the ones that do weird things with MAP.
Still, high crit chance on that first attack, and very consistent second attack. And that is before you consider any other benefits from spells or other performances.
I wonder if you could just be Jackie Chan if you go with performance (comedy)?